Kevin Durant believes that the Lakers have the best team in the league, on paper. This is weird, coming from a guy like Kevin Durant, huh?

A few days ago, it was Chris Bosh saying that the Los Angeles Lakers have the best team in the league on paper. Of course, this is news coming from a defending NBA champion.

After acquiring Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, among others, it might be hard to argue against them.

The two-time scoring champion had this to say about Los Angeles and their new super-team:

“People outside, fans, media, of course they are going to say (the Lakers are the favorites) because on paper they have the best lineup in the league. But you still got to play the games. We respect everybody. We are going to go through the league respecting everybody as well.

“We already view ourselves as an elite team, but we have to prove it again. Last year is over with.”

With this being said, do I actually believe that Kevin Durant truly thinks this? Of course not.

There’s a chance he’s just using this as motivation. He’s saying, “Hey, don’t forget about us. We made it to the NBA Finals. We’re pretty good, too.”

But don’t believe for a second that Kevin Durant is intimidated by the Lakers. It was very recently that he put Kobe Bryant’s team to rest fairly easily in the playoffs. Not to mention, who can really slow down Kevin Durant that is on the Lakers? What about Russell Westbrook? Considering that Kobe isn’t the defender he once was, what about James Harden?